Coyote Lake Ranch, LLC v. City of Lubbock

JUSTICE GREEN, JUSTICE JOHNSON, JUSTICE GUZMAN, JUSTICE DEVINE, and JUSTICE BROWN joined.

Absent an agreement to the contrary, an oil-and-gas lessee has an implied right to use the land as reasonably necessary to produce and remove the minerals but must exercise that right with due regard for the laiidowner’s rights.1 This rule has come to be called the accommodation doctrine. The issue now before us is whether the doctrine also applies as between a landowner and the owner of an interest in the groundwater. Contrary to the court of appeals,2 we hold that it does, but we agree with that court…